Heroes IV Battlepeak
by GreatEmerald
Summary: A story following the campaign of Heroes of Might and Magic IV with Barbarians. This is actually what happened while playing it, but here thoughts and views of heroes themselves are shown.


**Battlepeak**

Late that day, the armour shop keeper of Battlepeak, Zart, watched the enemy army leaving through the town gates. The leader of these warriors was Wegg, a skilled Barbarian. After the Reckoning, he decided to become the next Barbarian King through brutal force. Before Waerjak and his actions, there was no chance for Wegg - as there were many different tribes in war with each other, Wegg simply couldn't overcome all of them. But now, times have changed... Waerjak and his father proved that community, not force, is the way to go. So now Battlepeak didn't want any sort of armies going through their territory, except if they were loyal to Waerjak. However, most of the town's warriors went into the battles together with their new leader... And left only a few people behind to defend their town.

Zart knew that actions of Wegg were unexpected. In the chaos that Waerjak caused, Wegg managed to gather enough troops to take towns by force. And he was quick. From barbarian scouts Zart found out that many of the towns on the other side of the Portals were actively sending caravans with troops, so Wegg wouldn't catch them by surprise. But, unfortunately, Battlepeak was too new to have buildings to support caravans... And Wegg just came too fast. After taking Waerjak's home town, he went directly to Battlepeak. Towns near the army path were all fortified, but Battlepeak was too far to be noticed... That's how it ended having only 14 barbarians and four Centaurs guarding the whole town! There was no talk about resistance... The only thing left was hope. Hope that Waerjak will come and stop Wegg.

Although most of Battlepeak's inhabitants were in despair, but Zart saw that they have hope after all. Sure, Wegg was a skilled tactician - he left one eighth of his huge army in the town and ordered our (and his own) workers to upgrade the Citadel we had here to a full Castle. But his recent actions were a mistake! The majority of his army left the town, and Wegg had no other towns under his control (the one he had conquered before was successfully taken back by Waerjak).

Wegg took out his area map. Crosses marked two spots - a closer one, Ogre Fort, that was currently under Waerjak's control, and one further from their current destination - Cyclops Cave. This one was his own, and those loyal to Waerjak haven't noticed it while scouting out the land. Wegg put his map away and asked his advisor: "Do you know where Waerjak's army is and how strong it is?" His advisor talked to a few other barbarians and then said: "Our local Thieves Guild guildmaster says that our army is still stronger than all of Waerjak's forces combined! We should even be able to defeat his main army in an open battle!" Yes, Wegg had this opportunity before, when Waerjak was still talking to other barbarian town rulers and tried to convince them to join his side. Wegg's army probably would have crushed the opposition. But... He didn't give that order. What if he, Wegg, gets killed? Even if the army is smaller than his, there are always casualties. Always. And imagining himself dead was not pleasant... So he decided to wait, and attack only when Waerjak's forces were away. Towns are largely unprepared and easy to take over then! And there is minimal risk.

"And what about the location of the enemy?" asked Wegg. "We are not sure. Our scouts didn't report much after Waerjak took his first town back. I'm afraid we don't have enough scouts now, after our only Gem Mine was claimed by the enemy. Those that are watching the roads around our Windmill didn't see anything, but that doesn't necessarily mean that Waerjak didn't go out of his town - the main road isn't visible from there... Yet we can safely assume that the enemy hasn't reached the portal to these lands" answered his advisor. Good news to Wegg - the Ogre Fort was even visible from where their army was now.

Next day Wegg hired 8 more Ogre Magi for his army. But not all news were that good - Waerjak went through the Portal and now appeared in these lands. Wegg had two options - go back to Battlepeak and defend the castle there or continue towards the Cyclops Cave. "How many Cyclops does the enemy have?" asked Wegg. The answer was - few. Wegg thought about 15 he had in his army and additional 10 that were waiting in the Cave... His army's power could increase a lot if they visited the Cave. But what if they spent too much time and couldn't get back in time? That would be horrible... But, on the other hand, Waerjak couldn't know about Wegg's current location. He didn't pay much attention to Battlepeak and he didn't have any scouts further from the Ogre Fort because he never really discovered the Cyclops Cave. And nobody knew the enemy's speed. With an army only a little smaller than Wegg's, they should be pretty slow... And even if they do take Battlepeak back, they could slip through and take it by force once again, once Waerjak goes out to search for him. So Wegg ordered his troops to continue to Cyclops Cave.

Zart watched all the preparations Wegg's troops were doing in Battlepeak. Their castle was now complete, and warriors were taking their positions on the towers. The battle was just about to begin. Waerjak came back to reclaim the town, and, as it was necessary in this case, by force.

After the short battle, everything was over. Only a few casualties in Waerjak's side, and no sign of Wegg's eighth of an army. There weren't enough troops for them to hold Battlepeak. And, of course, those, who lived in Battlepeak, didn't want to help Wegg at all. Waerjak proved that community was their strength - while Wegg was simply brutal, and a coward, too.

Wegg wasn't expecting the news that his scouts brought. Battlepeak was no longer in his possession. He had 0 towns. None of the barbarian towns called him a leader. All that was left was his army. It's big, but... His advisor stated that after three more days there will be no hope to reclaim any of the towns in the area - and an army this big can't hide forever. After three days, his troops would also surrender to Waerjak. So Wegg had no choice but to turn back and hope that his forces will be enough to capture Battlepeak again. He was two days away from it - and no more towns were closer. The next town was 5 days away - longer than the given period of 3 days. And in the rough lands here he had no place to get additional troops. The only other group loyal to Wegg was a few Nomads somewhere far away - there was no hope they could join their army in time.

The third battle of Battlepeak was, unlike the previous two, long and bloody. However, the castle that Wegg ordered to build was very well built and compensated the lack of troops on Waerjak's side. In the end, even his own walls turned against Wegg! Centaurs were almost unstoppable, and Waerjak with his father personally took one tower - arrows from that one were always swift and deadly. When the battle was about to end, Wegg found that he and one Cyclops were the only ones alive from their side. That was his only hope... By using cover, distraction and darkness, Wegg managed to slip through, not to be seen by Waerjak again...

Several Nomads travelled east through the desert. Strangely, one of them, and the newest one, had an interesting name - Wegg...


End file.
